It should be apparent by now that food and drink items that I LOVE are pretty much “laced with drugs” in my world. This is one of those stories where I was literally blown away. I no joke wish I could have this particular item on a daily basis. I crave it frequently and how sad that the only time I have ever had it is in Ahmedabad, Gujarat in India?

What I am talking about is the cold coffee at Shambhu’s Coffee Bar.

Shambhu’s Coffee Bar – Ahmedabad, India

My cousin Heman is the one to blame for this. We were spending the day together just driving around the city when all of a sudden, he gets this idea, as if it were zapped into his brain from above and stops the car. He turns to me and says, “do you want to try something really good that I think you will love? Arpit and Sunny (our cousins from Philadelphia) absolutely love this place. Sunny literally came here every day on his two week trip when he visited last year.” Um, ok. Who says no to that kind of question and statement, especially when it is backed by such empirical evidence that my other US born and raised cousins love it? I’m so in, this MUST be good!

We pull up to this very non-descript street corner and Heman tells me to just wait in the car and he will quickly run in. Clearly this corner is the place to be. There are a few food shops I see, but what is most striking is the number of people just sitting outside enjoying their food and drinks.

Outside of Shambhu’s Coffee

It was probably easier for Heman to just run in by himself, rather than have to navigate me through all the people and then be awkwardly gawked at by the crowds outside. I don’t know what it is about us American born Indians. It must have something to do with our mannerisms or the way we look because we stand out like sore thumbs in a crowd of native Indians, even when we dress the same. What is so astonishing is how all the people just stare at you like you are from outer space or something. Ok, I digress….

Heman returns with two little cold coffee drinks (that are in the same plastic cup packaging like McDonald’s orange juice) and two little 4 inch pizzas (the pizza’s are from Jashuben pizza which you can also read about on another post). I’m a little nervous about drinking this coffee because I try to stay away from dairy while traveling to places like India…you never know how your stomach will react to it. More so, since this milk hasn’t been boiled, who knows what the ramifications will be (and we all know what ramifications I’m talking about here. Ammodium AD anyone)? But, I look up again to see that Shambu’s looks more like a legit coffee chain, rather than some random street vendor who got the milk from god knows where. I take my chances. And what happens? I fall in love (and no Ammodium AD needed:)).

Enjoying Shambhu’s Cold Coffee

This coffee is f*&%^#@ amazing!!!! That is the only way to describe it. It is cold and creamy with just the right sweetness and is just seriously good. It has a great coffee flavor but is not strong or bitter. It is more along the lines in texture and creaminess of the refrigerated Starbucks frappucino found in grocery stores here in the US. It is not at all like the iced coffee from Starbucks that we are accustomed to which tends to be really strong and bitter. All I know is that I slurped that thing down pretty quickly (well, maybe not as fast as Heman as you can see from the picture!!)

We were only in Ahmedabad for a few more days and EVERY single day I thought about Shambu’s and how I could possible finagle bribing someone to take me there for my new addiction. Sadly, it never worked out so I departed Ahmedabad with only the memory of my new found love. As we traveled throughout other parts of India for the next two weeks, my eyes were keenly peeled for any signs of Shambhu. We were never reunited again 🙁 Only until next time I’m in Ahmedabad shall I be reacquainted with something that was literally love at first sip.

BTW, I looked it up and it turns out Shambu’s is only in Ahmedabad.